About Bethlehem

Welcome to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, also known as Christmas City, USA.
Bethlehem was founded over 250 years ago in 1741 when a religious group,
members of the Moravian Church, purchased land where the Monocacy Creek
flows into the Lehigh River. Bethlehem was christened on Christmas Eve,
1741 in a stable while the small group of Moravians were singing a hymn
with the stanza “Not Jerusalem, Lowly Bethlehem” so Bethlehem is truly
Christmas City, USA.

Our city has a fascinating history. In 1741, the first Moravians felled
white oak trees and began building their community on the 500 acre tract
purchased in the spring. They located their crafts, trades, and industries
along the Monocacy Creek and Lehigh River and their institutional dwellings
on the limestone bluff along what is now Church Street.

The
earliest structures were built of hewn logs. The first house no longer
exists; however, the second structure known as the 1741 Gemeinhaus (National
Historic Landmark) is still standing and houses the Moravian Museum of
Bethlehem. A majority of the 18th century colonial Germanic stone structures
remain including the 1744-1772 Bell House / Sisters’ House Complex, 1748
Single Brethren’s House, 1751 Old Chapel, 1758 Sun Inn, 1761 Tannery,
1762 Waterworks (National Historic Landmark), 1768 Widows’ House, 1782-1830
Miller’s House, and the archeological remains of the butchery, dye house,
pottery, and oil mill. These buildings are considered the finest examples
of 18th century colonial Germanic architecture in America.

Bethlehem is fortunate to have two National Historic Landmarks: the 1741
Gemeinhaus, the largest 18th century log structure in continuous use in
the United States, was the birthplace of Lewis David von Schweinitz, the
Father of American Mycology. The 1762 Waterworks is America’s first pumped
municipal water system.Bethlehem was a diverse community with Moravians
coming from all over Europe. Although German was their common language,
15 different languages were spoken here. Education for both boys and girls
was very important and in 1742, they first established a school for girls
and several months later a school for boys. The schools have become Moravian
Academy, an independent school from pre-K through grade 12, and Moravian
College and Theological Seminary. Later in the 1860s, Lehigh University
was founded originally to train future leaders of industry.

Music was also very important to the community; one of the earliest orchestras
in America was founded here in 1744. Today, the Bach Choir of Bethlehem
and the Moravian Trombone Choir, the oldest musical group in America founded
in 1754, continue that tradition.

During the Revolutionary War, the Moravians were pacifists but doubled
their output of hides to support the American cause. The Continental Army
Hospital was located here in the Brethren’s House. Over 500 soldiers died
in Bethlehem and are buried on the hillside along First Avenue. The story
of Moravian farming still exists in the historic site known as the 1748-1848
Burnside Plantation which interprets early farming within the city limits
of our community.

With the coming of the canal in the late 1820s, the community was changing.
In the early years, Bethlehem was a closed community with the Moravian
Church owning all the land. In 1845, the Church began selling off its
property and Bethlehem was incorporated as a borough.The development of
the railroads in the mid 1800s spurred further development of industry
starting with zinc, then iron and steel, cigar factories and silk mills.
The Moravian farms on the southside of the river became transformed into
building lots and the place for the growth of industry. Beginning in the
1850s, many waves of immigrants from all over Europe and later the Americas
settled on the southside to work in the factories and mills. Once again
many languages and ethnic traditions were found here. South Bethlehem
was incorporated as a separate borough in 1865.

The west side of the Monocacy also grew rapidly in the late 1800s after
the Broad Street Bridge was completed and then West Bethlehem was incorporated
as a separate borough in 1886. It was not until 1917 that the three Bethlehems
were united into one town.

Bethlehem today has six National Register Historic Districts, many historic
sites and museums, a very active arts and culture scene and is one of
the 100 Best Places to live in the US according Money Magazine.

Along the Monocacy Creek and the Lehigh River, the Moravian community
immediately began building their heavy industrial area initially using
small log structures for their workshops. Within two years of their arrival
in Bethlehem, the Moravians built a saw mill, soap mill, and wash houses;
constructed their first grist mill, oil mill, tannery, blacksmith shop
and brass foundry. By 1747, thirty-five (35) crafts, trades and industries
were established including a butchery, tawery, clockmaker, tinsmith, nailor,
pewterer, hatter, spinning, weaving, cooper, dye house, community bakery,
candlemaker, linen bleachery, fulling mill, saddlery, tailor, cobbler,
flax processing, wheelwright, carpenter, mason.

As
the community developed, they replaced the log buildings with larger limestone
buildings. The pottery, tannery, butchery, dye house, smith complex, oil
mill, and waterworks were built of stone in the period from the late 1740s
through the early 1770s. Bethlehem’s Colonial Industrial Quarter
had the largest concentration of pre-industrial revolution crafts, trades
and industries in America and can be considered America’s earliest
industrial park. Some of the early industrial buildings remain.

The goal of the Moravians in Bethlehem was to be a self-sufficient community
on the colonial frontier in order to provide for themselves and for their
missionaries in the field.

With the Industrial Revolution, cheaper mass-produced goods became available
and there was a decline in the market for hand-made goods. By the 1850s,
other industries were coming to Bethlehem including the forerunner of
Bethlehem Steel Corporation which rose to become the second largest steel
producer in the United States.

Today even with the loss of the Steel, Bethlehem has a very diverse industrial
base of technology and industrial parks with two located within the city.

Bethlehem Steel

Bethlehem Steel Corporation was incorporated in December 1904, when it
was acquired by Charles Schwab, who built it into the second largest steel
company in the country. Its early history can be traced to 1857, when
the Saucona Iron Company was established, later to become the Bethlehem
Iron Company. John Fritz, one of America’s great ironmasters, came
to Bethlehem in 1860 from the Cambria Iron Company in Johnstown, Pennsylvania,
to develop the iron works and served as general superintendent of the
Bethlehem Plant until his retirement some thirty years later.

Bethlehem
established itself as a significant supplier of forged products, steel
rail and ordnance before Mr. Schwab acquired the rights to the Grey Mill
and produced the nation’s first rolled wide-flange structural steel beams
in 1908. Bethlehem Steel also made its name as the world’s
largest shipbuilder through two World Wars, building an impressive 1,127
ships during World War II. Bethlehem’s facilities stretched from
coast-to-coast, with numerous steelmaking and manufacturing plants, coal
mines, quarries, ore mines, and shipbuilding and ship repair yards supplying
the nation’s needs. Bethlehem’s peak employment corporate-wide reached
about 300,000 while the Bethlehem Plant employed almost 33,000 to supply
the war effort. After almost one hundred years in existence, Bethlehem
Steel Corporation filed for bankruptcy in 2001.

The local Bethlehem Plant occupied 1,800 acres that stretched four-and-a-half
miles along the Lehigh River and beyond. Its history is significant for
its many “firsts”, including the perfection of high-speed
tool steel that paved the way for modern industrial expansion and for
its extraordinary contribution to the defense of our nation. Its mainstay
products were the structural products, ordnance and heavy forgings. The
legacy of the Bethlehem Plant is being preserved as part of a planned
brownfield redevelopment incorporating significant historic manufacturing
facilities and iconic structures.

Places of Worship

Representing a broad range of religious denominations,
there are over 90 houses of worship to serve the spiritual needs
Bethlehem area residents and visitors.

Moravian Academy

Moravian Academy is a co-educational Pre-K through
Grade 12 college preparatory school that features small class sizes,
a safe, caring environment, and a variety of academic and co-curricular
offerings where each student is valued as a whole person with a
focus on the mind, body, and spirit. Since 1742, Moravian Academy’s
tradition has encouraged sound innovations to meet contemporary
challenges while recognizing the permanence of basic human values.

Lehigh University

Lehigh is a premier residential research university,
ranked in the top tier of national research universities each year.
We are a coeducational, nondenominational, private university that
offers a distinct academic environment of undergraduate and graduate
students from across the globe. Located in Pennsylvania’s scenic
Lehigh Valley, the campus is situated on 1,600 acres in close proximity
to both New York City and Philadelphia.

Moravian College

America's sixth-oldest college, Moravian delivers
a broad-based liberal arts education in a caring environment, through
which it nurtures in students the capacities for leadership, lifelong
learning, and positive societal contributions.

Northampton Community College

Northampton Community College is the college of
choice for one in four graduates of high schools in Northampton
County and one in six graduates of high schools in Monroe County.
Personal attention is prized. The College has maintained a low student/faculty
ratio of 24/1 while serving more than 36,000 students a year at
the Main Campus in Bethlehem, a branch campus in Tannersville, the
Fowler Family Southside Center in south Bethlehem, and 50+ satellite
sites in Northampton, Monroe, Pike and Wayne counties. More than
16,000 students are enrolled in credit programs; another 21,000
are involved in workforce training, adult literacy classes or youth
classes.

Northampton grants associate degrees, certificates and diplomas
in over 100 fields including arts and humanities, business and technology,
education and allied health. It is one of the largest employers
in the Lehigh Valley and a major educator of registered nurses,
licensed practical nurses, radiologic technicians, dental hygienists,
veterinary technologists, funeral service directors, chefs and early
childhood educators for the region.